Analysis of Big Smith.
Juliana Horatia Ewing 1841 (Ecclesfield, Sheffield) – 1885 (Bath, Somerset)
Are you a Giant, great big man, or is your real name Smith?
Nurse says you've got a hammer that you hit bad children with.
I'm good to-day, and so I've come to see if it is true
That you can turn a red-hot rod into a horse's shoe.
Why do you make the horses' shoes of iron instead of leather?
Is it because they are allowed to go out in bad weather?
If horses should be shod with iron, Big Smith, will you shoe mine?
For now I may not take him out, excepting when it's fine.
Although he's not a real live horse, I'm very fond of him;
His harness won't take off and on, but still it's new and trim.
His tail is hair, he has four legs, but neither hoofs nor heels;
I think he'd seem more like a horse without these yellow wheels.
They say that Dapple-grey's not yours, but don't you wish he were?
My horse's coat is only paint, but his is soft grey hair;
His face is big and kind, like yours, his forelock white as snow--
Shan't you be sorry when you've done his shoes and he must go?
I do so wish, Big Smith, that I might come and live with you;
To rake the fire, to heat the rods, to hammer two and two.
To be so black, and not to have to wash unless I choose;
To pat the dear old horses, and to mend their poor old shoes.
When all the world is dark at night, you work among the stars,
A shining shower of fireworks beat out of red-hot bars.
I've seen you beat, I've heard you sing, when I was going to bed;
And now your face and arms looked black, and now were glowing red.
The more you work, the more you sing, the more the bellows roar;
The falling stars, the flying sparks, stream shining more and more.
You hit so hard, you look so hot, and yet you never tire;
It must be very nice to be allowed to play with fire.
I long to beat and sing and shine, as you do, but instead
I put away my horse, and Nurse puts me away to bed.
I wonder if you go to bed; I often think I'll keep
Awake and see, but, though I try, I always fall asleep.
I know it's very silly, but I sometimes am afraid
Of being in the dark alone, especially in bed.
But when I see your forge-light come and go upon the wall,
And hear you through the window, I am not afraid at all.
I often hear a trotting horse, I sometimes hear it stop;
I hold my breath--you stay your song--it's at the blacksmith's shop.
Before it goes, I'm apt to fall asleep, Big Smith, it's true;
But then I dream of hammering that horse's shoes with you!
Scheme | XXAA BBCC DDEE BXFF AAGG HHII JJBB IIKK XILL MMAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (70%) |
Metre | 11010111111111 11110101111101 11110111111111 11110111010101 1111010111001110 110111011110110 110111110111111 1111111110111 1110111110111 11011101111101 11111111110111 11111101011101 1111111111110 11011101111111 1111011111111 111110111110111 11111111110111 110101101110101 11110111110111 11011100111111 11011111110101 0101011111111 111111111111011 01110111010101 01110111010101 01010101110101 111111110111010 111101110111110 11110101111101 11011101110111 11011111110111 0101111111101 11110101101101 1100010101001 11111111010101 01110101110111 11010101101111 1111111111011 01111111011111 11111100110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 2,384 |
Words | 495 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 45 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 180 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:35 min read
- 3 Views
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"Big Smith." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56030/big-smith.>.
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